Newhouse to announce possible candidacy

Dan Newhouse, a former state legislator and director of the state’s agriculture department, will announce his plans tomorrow, Thursday, on whether he will seek Doc Hastings’ Fourth District Congressional seat.

Hastings, a Republican from Pasco, announced last Thursday that he is retiring at the end of this year and last Friday Newhouse said he was considering a run at the post.

Newhouse, a Sunnyside-area farmer and Republican, will hold a gathering tomorrow to announce his intentions for the seat. The event is scheduled for tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in the State Fair Room of the SunDome in Yakima.

While Newhouse mulls a potential run for office, the first official candidate to formally announce he is seeking Hastings’ seat is former NFL tight end Clint Didier, who is also a Republican.

“I think most people in the Fourth District want someone they can trust to push back against the ever-growing nanny state,” Didier stated in a press release published earlier this week on a forum for Congressman Ron Paul, who backed Didier’s Senate run four years ago. “They are tired of an economy that cannot produce jobs.”

Also considering a run for the Fourth District seat is State Senator Janéa Holmquist Newbry. In a statement released to the Daily Sun News, the Moses Lake Republican said she has formed an exploratory committee to evaluate a possible candidacy for Congress.

“I have faithfully served the voters of my district in the Senate and House, I have heard the concerns of voters in the Fourth Congressional district, and now I am considering a possible run for Congress,” Holmquist Newbry stated.

Candidates won’t actually file for the Congressional seat until May. That will be followed by a primary in August, if there are more than three candidates in either party, and the general election in November.